Delle Donne played for just the second time this season. She finished with 19 points and six rebounds but was a rusty 7 for 23 from the floor in 34 minutes. She also missed the first three games of the season.

"I think Elena gave everything she could. It's really hard to be off for a long time and have your timing back," Blue Hens coach Tina Martin said.

"It's only her second game. I mean ... hello? There's a lot of season left for her."

Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 5,089, the largest in Delaware women's history, the 6-foot-5 Delle Donne missed 9-of-12 shots in 15 minutes of the first half.

"I felt all right," Delle Donne said. "It was difficult, obviously. I'm just going to play my way back into it."

In the second half, she led a comeback that got the Blue Hens to 52-49 with just more than eight minutes to play, but Maryland closed with a 17-4 run.

"I was able to get into a little bit more of a rhythm. Once I got the rhythm, that's when I hit the wall," Delle Donne said.

"Obviously, I would have liked to have performed far better."

Alyssa Thomas added 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Katie Rutan scored 13 for the Terps (8-2), who won their fourth straight game.

"They were never rattled," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said.

No one on the Terrapins is as tall as Delle Donne, but their zone was able to thwart her.

"She goes into those grooves that separates her on the floor. That's what makes her so special," Frese said. "Once she started heating up, we couldn't find her in zone, couldn't find her in man. I thought we did a much better job trying to lock into her. She continues to show what makes her an All-American and why she's a tremendous player."

Hawkins scored 12 straight points to help Maryland open a 43-31 lead over Delaware (5-3) with just more than two minutes gone in the second half. With 13:17 left, the Terps led 50-37.